Cordelia flinched at Lindsay’s words and took a tentative step toward her. But Lindsay shook her head angrily and Cordelia stopped in her tracks. “I didn’t mean it to be like this,” she protested. “It’s just the way it happened that’s all.”

The feebleness of her response fueled the rage that had begun to burn in Lindsay. “Apart from anything else, I’m still working for Claire. How the hell can I carry on with that if I’m sleeping with you? I still don’t hear you saying you’re going to leave Claire and come back to me! After what we’ve had, do you really think I’m going to settle for being your bit on the side?” Lindsay demanded angrily.

“It doesn’t have to be like that. You don’t have to work for Claire. And I don’t have to stay here, where Claire’s still around to cause confusion. We can go back to London together. Start again. Give it another try,” Cordelia pleaded.

Lindsay’s heart sank. Cordelia’s words served only to confirm her suspicions that her motives were suspect. Was Cordelia protecting Claire after all? “And just abandon Jackie?” she blurted out. “No way. I made a commitment. I’ve started, so I’ll finish, like the man says. Besides, it’s not just Claire who’s involved,” she blurted out.

Cordelia paled. “What do you mean?”

Lindsay silently cursed herself. She hadn’t meant to tell Cordelia about Sophie. “Nothing,” she mumbled.

“It’s that bloody Helen, isn’t it?” Cordelia demanded. “I always knew she fancied you. Couldn’t wait to get her claws into you, could she?”

“It’s not Helen. It’s Sophie. And you’ve no room to talk about people who couldn’t wait,” Lindsay shouted, almost glad of an excuse to pick a fight. Anything to escape a situation that she was finding increasingly intolerable. “You knew I’d be back. You knew it wasn’t you I was leaving. But you couldn’t give me time, could you? I hadn’t been gone six months when you were throwing yourself into Claire’s arms. I never looked at another woman in all the time I was away. And when I did come back, it was straight to you. Or it would have been if you hadn’t been too busy bedding your new girlfriend.”

Cordelia scowled. “How the hell was I supposed to know when you were coming back? Or even if you were coming back?”